Blog › Project Governance
No Jira. No Confluence.
Just M365 and a Deadline.
You've been asked to run a project - or stand up a PMO - using Microsoft 365. No enterprise PPM tool. No budget for one. We've been in that chair. Here's how we get governance stood up today instead of burning a week building templates from scratch.
The Monday morning ambush
It usually starts with a Teams message on a Monday morning. Or an email with "Quick question" in the subject line that turns out to be anything but quick.
"We need someone to run this project. Can you set up the governance? We're using SharePoint and Teams - no Jira, no Confluence, no ServiceNow. Budget's been approved but we need to move fast."
So you open a blank Word document. You start typing "Project Management Plan" at the top. And then you sit there, because you know that by the time you've built a charter, a RACI, a RAID log, a budget tracker, a schedule, a comms plan, status report templates, and stage gate presentations - you've burned a week. Maybe two. And you haven't managed a single thing yet.
This isn't a skill problem. Every PM we know already knows what governance artefacts they need. The problem is building them from scratch every single time, for every single engagement, in a format that looks professional enough to put in front of a steering committee on day one.
The Google trap
Fragments that don't connect.
So you Google "project charter template" and download something. Then "risk register Excel" and get a different one. Then "status report PowerPoint" from a third source. You now have three artefacts that use different fonts, different colour schemes, different column headers, and different assumptions about what governance looks like.
Your risk register doesn't reference your project schedule. Your status report doesn't pull from your RAID log. Your stage gate presentation doesn't align with anything because it was built by someone at a different organisation for a different framework. Nothing connects. Nothing is consistent.
And here's the thing we don't see talked about - it's not just an efficiency problem. When your governance artefacts look inconsistent, your stakeholders notice. They might not say it, but they notice. A steering committee that sees five different templates with five different formats subconsciously registers that the project governance wasn't planned. It was assembled. There's a difference.
What you need
A system, not a folder of files.
A project management toolkit isn't a collection of templates. It's a system. The charter authorises the project and feeds into the project management plan. The plan references the schedule, the budget tracker, the RACI, and the RAID log. The status report pulls RAG ratings from every one of those artefacts. The stage gate presentation aggregates everything into a governance review format.
When these artefacts are designed together, they reference each other. The RAID+ Dashboard feeds your status reports. The change request form triggers updates to your schedule and budget baselines. The stage gate presentations pull from the artefacts produced in each phase. This is what we mean when we say "integrated governance" - not a methodology diagram, but templates that talk to each other.
The RAID+ Dashboard, for example
The RAID+ workbook in the kit isn't a basic risk register. It's eleven interconnected sheets with a live dashboard that counts open items across every register - risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies, actions, decisions, change requests, and lessons learned. Every field has a dropdown validation. Every register uses auto-numbering formulas (R-001, AS-001, A-0001). The dashboard pulls totals and percentages automatically. Enter your project name once and it flows to every sheet.
That's the difference between a template you downloaded and a template that was built by someone who's used it in actual steering committees, refined after actual audits, and iterated on across financial services, government, higher education, and engineering engagements over 15 years.
Five stage gates. Every phase covered.
From "should this project exist" to "sign off on the handover".
Initiate
Should this project exist? The charter, business case, stakeholder register, governance structure, and terms of reference. Plus six presentation decks so you can brief your steering committee on every artefact without building a slide from scratch. Get the charter signed in week one - a signed charter is worth more than a perfect one.
Plan
Lock it down. The RAID+ Dashboard, project schedule, budget tracker, RACI matrix, benefits register, and eight management plans covering risks, dependencies, stakeholders, communications, and more. Plus thirteen presentation companions. This is where you baseline - without a baseline, your status reports are opinions, not data.
Design
Execute and monitor day-to-day. Status reports for both project and program level, meeting minutes, decision register, action log, change request form, and quality management plan. The status report uses RAG indicators across seven dimensions - overall health, scope, schedule, budget, resources, risks, and stakeholders - with previous period comparison so governance can see trends, not snapshots.
Deliver
Can the solution go live? Two go/no-go templates - business readiness and technical readiness - with 15 assessment criteria each. Six stage gate review presentations (one master deck plus one per gate). Implementation cutover plan with rollback triggers. This is the highest-stakes gate because the decision to proceed has immediate operational impact.
Embed
Close properly. Most projects don't close - they just stop. Lessons learned register, project closeout checklist, post-implementation review, handover to BAU checklist, and a 32-slide executive project briefing. The PIR template covers benefits realisation, operational stability, stakeholder feedback, and recommendations. Schedule it 8-12 weeks after go-live.
The numbers
What's in the ZIP file.
Word documents
80 pages
Excel workbooks
with formulas
PowerPoint decks
557 slides
Implementation Guide
24 pages
We built every PowerPoint on the same slide master - change the colours and footer once and the visual style updates across all 38 decks. Same header/footer pattern across every Word document. Same title row structure across every Excel workbook. You can rebrand the whole kit to your organisation in five minutes.
We didn't ship empty Excel grids. They've got formulas, conditional formatting, dropdown validations, auto-numbering, and dashboard summaries. The RAID+ Dashboard alone has eleven interconnected sheets. The budget tracker calculates variance. The project schedule auto-generates Gantt charts across calendar year, financial year, half year, and quarter views.
And we paired every template with a presentation companion. Wrote a project charter? There's a 16-slide deck ready for your sponsor walkthrough. Finished your risk management plan? There's a 12-slide deck for the governance review. You never have to translate a narrative document into a presentation format again.
The bit most kits skip
A 24-page guide that tells you what to use, when, and why.
Most template kits give you files and wish you luck. We wrote a 24-page Implementation Guide that walks you through each stage gate, explains the gate criteria (what needs to be true before you progress), and tells you which templates to prioritise first.
We also packed in two reference tools that save hours of work:
Risk Bank
45+ example risk statements across 15 categories - scope, schedule, budget, resources, technology, governance, stakeholder, change management, data, procurement, compliance, organisational, environmental, benefits, and quality. Copy them straight into your RAID+ Dashboard and adapt to your project.
Benefits Writing Guide
How to write benefit statements that are specific, measurable, and have a named owner. Ten categories with worked examples - efficiency, cost reduction, revenue growth, risk reduction, customer experience, staff experience, compliance, data quality, capability, and strategic alignment.
On risk statements specifically
We write every risk in a fixed structure: "There is a risk that [event] caused by [root cause] which may result in [impact]." It forces you to separate the event from its cause and its impact, which makes it actionable - you can treat the cause, mitigate the event, or prepare for the impact. We've packed 45+ of these into the Risk Bank, ready for you to adapt. It's the difference between populating your risk register in 15 minutes versus staring at an empty spreadsheet for an hour.
Who this is for
Project managers, PMO leads, and consultants who want their time back.
If you've got Jira, Confluence, and a mature PMO with standardised templates - you probably don't need this. Your organisation has already solved this problem.
We built this for everyone else. The PM who just got handed a project with no governance and no tools. The PMO lead standing up a new project office and needing a complete framework from day one. The consultant who walks into a new engagement every few months and needs something they can rebrand in five minutes that looks like they've been doing this for decades.
We built it for the person who knows exactly what governance artefacts they need but doesn't want to build them from scratch. Again. For the third time this year.
The honest bit
Why we released them
These templates represent 15 years of enterprise delivery we've done across financial services, government, higher education, and engineering. Every one has been through real steering committees, real audits, and real project closeouts.
In our industry, people hold onto their templates like they're trade secrets. It took years to build these, and there's a part of every practitioner's brain that says if you give away the tools, you give away the value.
But the tools aren't the value. The judgment is. Knowing which template to use when, knowing how to read a RAID log and spot the risk that's already an issue, knowing how to walk a first-time sponsor through a stage gate review without overwhelming them - that's the value. The templates are the delivery mechanism. We'd rather they were in the hands of project managers who need them than sitting on a server being precious about them.
So here they are. 73 of them. Across five stage gates. With a guide that explains how to use them. Built by practitioners who've used them. We hope they save you the week we know it takes to build this stuff from scratch. Get back to running your project. Go home on time.
Key takeaways
The PM Project Change Kit contains 73 enterprise-grade templates across five stage gates (Initiate, Plan, Design, Deliver, Embed) - covering every governance artefact from project charter to post-implementation review.
It includes 20 Word documents, 15 Excel workbooks with formulas and dashboards, 38 PowerPoint decks (557 slides), and a 24-page implementation guide with a risk bank and benefits writing guide.
Designed for project managers and PMOs running on Microsoft 365 without access to Jira, Confluence, or ServiceNow. Every template can be rebranded to your organisation in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we get asked most about the PM Kit.
What file formats are included in the PM Kit? +
The kit includes 20 Word documents (80 pages), 15 Excel workbooks with formulas, conditional formatting, and dashboard summaries, and 38 PowerPoint presentation decks (557 slides). All files are Microsoft 365 compatible and can be rebranded with your organisation's colours and logo in minutes.
What project management methodology does the kit follow? +
The kit follows a five stage gate framework aligned with PMBOK principles: Initiate, Plan, Design, Deliver, and Embed. It's methodology-agnostic enough to work alongside PRINCE2, Agile, or hybrid approaches, but the governance structure and artefact naming conventions are rooted in PMBOK.
Can I rebrand the templates for my organisation? +
Yes. Every PowerPoint deck uses the same slide master, so changing the colours and footer once updates all 38 decks. Word documents share a consistent header and footer pattern, and Excel workbooks use the same title row structure. You can rebrand the entire kit in five minutes.
What's included in the RAID+ Dashboard? +
The RAID+ Dashboard is an eleven-sheet Excel workbook covering Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies, Actions, Decisions, Change Requests, and Lessons Learned. It includes a live dashboard that counts open items across every register, dropdown validations, auto-numbering formulas (R-001, AS-001, A-0001), and automatic percentage calculations.
Do I need Jira or Confluence to use the kit? +
No. The kit was specifically designed for project managers and PMOs running on Microsoft 365 without access to enterprise PPM tools like Jira, Confluence, or ServiceNow. Every template works in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Is there a guide on how to use the templates? +
Yes. The kit includes a 24-page Implementation Guide that walks through each stage gate, explains the gate criteria, and tells you which templates to prioritise first. It also includes a Risk Bank with 45+ pre-written risk statements across 15 categories, and a Benefits Writing Guide with worked examples across 10 benefit categories.
Who built these templates? +
The templates were built by PM Project Change, a Sydney-based project management consultancy. They represent 15 years of enterprise delivery across financial services, government, higher education, and engineering. Every template has been used in real steering committees, audits, and project closeouts.
What's the difference between this and free templates from Google? +
Free templates from different sources use different fonts, colour schemes, column headers, and governance assumptions. Nothing connects. The PM Kit is an integrated system where the charter feeds the project plan, the RAID log feeds status reports, and stage gate presentations aggregate everything. Consistent branding, consistent structure, consistent governance.
See it in action
Get the Project Management Kit
73 templates. 557 slides. 80 pages. Five stage gates. 24-page implementation guide with risk bank and benefits writing guide. One ZIP. Instant download.
Launch price $697 AUD - standard price $997 AUD
Get the PM Kit - $697 AUDOr if you'd rather not DIY - contact us to stand up your PMO, program, or project.